Elizabethan England

Elizabethan England, c1568–1603 Glossary

Court: The social and political gathering surrounding the Queen, consisting of nobles, advisors, and courtiers.

Privy Council: Small group of senior advisors chosen by Elizabeth to run daily government business, led by ministers like William Cecil.

Patronage: Granting land, titles, monopolies, or positions to secure political loyalty.

Royal Prerogative: Exclusive traditional rights reserved solely for the monarch, including foreign diplomacy, marriage, and succession.

Monopolies: Grants conferring sole trading rights over specific goods, often controversial in Parliament.

Gentry: Wealthy upper-class landowners below nobility status who expanded their influence significantly during the period.

Vagabond: Homeless, unemployed individual traveling between parishes seeking work, often feared as a threat to social order.

Poor Laws (1597/1601): Comprehensive system establishing local taxation to support the needy and manage vagrancy.

Deserving Poor: Impoverished individuals unable to work due to physical limitations, age, or sickness.

Impotent Poor: Category of poor people who were physically unable to provide for themselves (e.g. elderly, disabled, young children).

Idle Poor: Able-bodied individuals deemed capable of work who refused employment, subjected to harsh punishments.

Golden Age: Concept describing Elizabethan England's flourishing of art, literature, architecture, and theatre.

Globe Theatre: Renowned London outdoor theatre associated with William Shakespeare and Elizabethan drama.

Circumnavigation: The complete navigation of the globe by sea, completed by Sir Francis Drake between 1577 and 1580.

Privateer: State-licensed sailor authorized by the Crown to attack and seize foreign (mostly Spanish) merchant shipping.

Religious Settlement (1559): Elizabeth's moderate compromise establishing a Protestant Church of England while accommodating some traditional practices.

Act of Supremacy (1559): Law naming Elizabeth "Supreme Governor" of the Church of England.

Act of Uniformity (1559): Law establishing the Book of Common Prayer and mandating church attendance.

Recusant: A Catholic or dissenter who refused to attend Anglican church services and paid compulsory fines.

Papal Bull (1570): Decree issued by Pope Pius V excommunicating Elizabeth and ordering Catholics not to obey her.

Jesuits: Trained Catholic missionaries sent secretly into England to maintain Catholic faith and reverse Protestantism.

Puritans: Radical Protestants seeking to eliminate all remaining Catholic influences from the Church of England.

Northern Rebellion (1569): Uprising by Catholic Northern Earls attempting to depose Elizabeth and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots.

Babington Plot (1586): Catholic assassination plot against Elizabeth that directly led to Mary, Queen of Scots' trial and execution.

Spanish Armada (1588): Large invasion fleet sent by Philip II of Spain, defeated by English naval tactics, fire ships, and storms.